An independent monitoring group urges Finland to exercise caution in regard to NATO nuclear weapons exercises, reports the Finnish news agency (STT). A fresh report recommends that Finland maintains its prohibitions on the importation, manufacturing, possession and detonation of nuclear explosives. The Nuclear Weapons Monitoring Group (Finland), whose members includeContinue Reading
The NATO enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battlegroup in Estonia recently marked six years of existence. Based primarily at Tapa, east of Tallinn, and with HQ staff in the capital, the battlegroup is one of four such set-ups, the others being in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The Tapa-based eFP Battlegroup isContinue Reading
Sweden’s hopes of quickly following Finland into NATO membership have alighted on Turkey’s presidential election in May, in which recent polls show President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 20-year rule is in danger of ending. “The signals that Sweden has gotten from the opposition have been very good,” Paul Levin, director ofContinue Reading
The Åland islands occupy a special position in Finland, with a demilitarised status that means no armed forces can be stationed there and, unlike male citizens from elsewhere in Finland, Ålanders cannot be conscripted. Finland does, however, have the obligation to defend Åland if necessary. There are MPs in theContinue Reading
Spain has deployed advanced Norwegian-made Nasams surface-to-air defence missiles in Estonia as part of its commitment to NATO in the Baltic region. The Nasams system will protect the Amari air base, where NATO fighters operate as part of the Alliance’s rotating patrol shifts over the airspace above the Baltic statesContinue Reading
The Finnish Armed Forces pre-announced the U.S. flight and made a statement saying “There have been no changes in Finland’s military security situation or environment in the recent past. Flight operations with international partners are art of normal bilateral and multilateral cooperation.” However, Thursday’s flight was all but normal. ThisContinue Reading
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was confident that Finland would become a fully-fledged member of the alliance before mid-May. Finland will likely become an official member of Nato before Turkey’s parliamentary and presidential elections on 14 May, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday. “Based on whatContinue Reading
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö told Swedish public broadcaster SVT (siirryt toiseen palveluun) on Sunday that he did not believe that Sweden’s chances of joining Nato had weakened after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkey’s parliament would start ratifying Finland’s accession. Since applying for membership, Finnish leaders have emphasisedContinue Reading
Turkey plans to ratify Finland’s application to join Nato, but independently from Sweden’s bid, ahead of Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections in mid-May, according to Reuters. On Wednesday, Reuters cited two Turkish officials saying that the Turkish parliament is “highly likely to ratify Finland’s Nato bid before it closes inContinue Reading
Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) said in Kyiv that Finland should discuss whether its old Hornet fighters could be sent to Ukraine. Speaking to reporters in Ukraine on Friday, Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) said that Finland should discuss the possibility of sending some of its ageing Hornet fighters toContinue Reading